


be careful what you ask for

by billtheradish



Category: Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms
Genre: F/M, Gen, Off-screen Relationship(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-24
Updated: 2012-12-24
Packaged: 2017-11-22 05:56:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/606527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/billtheradish/pseuds/billtheradish
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In all stories, they say, there is a middle, a beginning, and an end. An end, a beginning, a middle.</p><p>A beginning, a middle, and an end.</p><p>But that's not quite true, is it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	be careful what you ask for

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Eida](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eida/gifts).



> A reassessment of [The Old Woman In the Wood](http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/grimms/123oldwomaninwood.html).

In all stories, they say, there is a middle, a beginning, and an end. An end, a beginning, a middle.

A beginning, a middle, and an end.

But that's not quite true, is it.

You see, the beginning of the story is the middle of the story and, sometimes, it might even be the end. Just as the end of one story is a beginning or a middle or maybe both at once. And most stories worth telling are made up of many stories.

So it's not so simple as end, beginning and middle.

Let me show you.

There's an old woman in the wood, they say. She has a treasure trove, a splendor of jewels, a hoard of delights. She offers greetings and food. She has a pet bird, in a cage.

She has a mouth on her, but she will not touch you.

They say these things. But the never tell you why.

\-----

It's a boy who comes to her house in the wood. A foolish, stupid boy with dreams and hopes of a bride. A beautiful bride. A grateful bride. An obedient bride.

A disgusting little fool of a boy.

But he brings her spices and wine. Honey and salt. So she reads his bones.

There is a girl, and he will meet her on his own in two years time. He has only to be patient, and remember to look for the serving girl with dark curls.

He does not want to wait. He does not want a serving girl. He wants a princess or at least a lady, well born and raised.

He offers her anything in his power, to bring him a suitable bride by the end of summer.

She agrees, and asks first for his wedding ring.

The ring is plain and dull, and it delights her to see it so. She takes his promise of marriage from his throat and makes it a dove. The ring goes into the dove's beak, the dove goes into a cage, the cage goes into a room far larger than it seems it should be.

And now, she tells him, you must fill this room with jewelry. A thousand rings of more. And not one of them can be mistaken for your wedding ring. So they must be ornate. They must be jeweled. They must shine.

The boy rages, but he complies.

Content with her trap, the old woman of the wood turns the boy and all his servants into trees. She lets them shriek. She lets them call out. But eventually their voices go silent, and she explains.

There is much more to be done, and she can't have them running away.

She finds the servant girl, goads her master into travelling. 

She sends the bandits, and makes sure the girl is the only one left alive.

The old woman of the wood draws the girl to the glade she made of the fool and his men, and turns the boy into a dove.

She tells him what to say. What to do. Tells him that if he does not heed her every word, he shall be a tree forever. 

She does not tell him she'd let his men go.

The servant girl is as foolish as the boy. She trusts the talking dove that provides her with good food, a comfortable bed, and rich clothes. She is complacent in the woods, sleeping long hours and talking to the trees as though they could hear her. (They can.)

When the dove tells her to go to the old woman's house, to ignore the woman and find the only plain ring, she does not ask why. She does not ask who the woman is, or why the ring is important. She does not ask why she cannot speak with the woman.

She is grateful for the dove's help. She is incurious, and complacent.

She is what the fool wants for a wife.

So the woman watches the girl follow her directions. Waits until it is obvious she hasn't seen the cage before she tries to remove it from the room. Watches the triumph on her face when she takes the ring and runs back to her own dove.

The old woman takes the dove from the cage, cradles it and whispers to it. The two shall be wed, because that promise was given. But now, the boy must keep what he asked for.

If he harms the poor girl, if he abuses her or ignores her or holds other women more dear...well.

The old woman of the wood will come calling.


End file.
